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During his high-school days, Bylsma was a standout in many sports, including golf, baseball, and ice hockey. Bylsma graduated from Western Michigan Christian High School where he won the Class D golf individual championship as a freshman. He also played baseball and was the starting left fielder as a freshman on Christian's 1985 State championship team. In his senior year, he was a member of the all-state all-class "Dream Team" (the best player at each position in the state – all classes), and won many regional baseball honors.

Bylsma played amateur hockey in Muskegon Junior Hockey, Norton Shores Recreational Leagues, and Grand Rapids GRAHA before playing Junior "B" hockey in Canada for the St. Marys Lincolns and the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Hockey Association. Bylsma went on to play college hockey at Bowling Green State University from 1988–1992 and was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in his freshman year. He was twice selected to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association All Academic Team and once earned Honorable Mention. He was a Bowling Green Scholar Athlete all four years and won the Jack Gregory Award for the highest grade point average on the team in his Sophomore season and the Howard Brown Coaches' Award for excellence in his Senior year. Bylsma is one of few players in the CCHA to have scored a short handed goal while his team was two men short.

Despite being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, Bylsma never played a game for them, and was signed by the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 1994. During the 1994–95 labor stoppage, Bylsma earned the nickname "Disco Dan". The nickname was adopted by teammates while playing for a minor league team in Phoenix. Veteran goaltender Byron Dafoe already went by Bylsma's former moniker of "Bysie" so the name "Disco Dan" was given due to Bylsma's penchant for dancing in the locker room.[2]

Signed as a free agent by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the summer of 2000, Bylsma was a steadying influence on a rebuilding Anaheim team, and was made an alternate captain. In his second season, he set a career high in points (17).

Bylsma struggled his entire career to stay in the NHL, mostly due to a lack of natural offensive ability (his primary role in the NHL had always been penalty killing). Injuries took a toll in later years, and before being put on waivers in January 2004, Bylsma missed 31 games due to knee surgery. He retired from playing following the 2003–04 season.

On February 15, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Penguins struggling to make the playoffs, the Penguins organization announced that it had relieved head coach Michel Therrien of his duties and had promoted Bylsma to serve as interim head coach of the team.[3] At 38, he was the youngest head coach in the NHL at the time. Through his first 25 games as Penguins' coach, his 18–3–4 record amounted to 40 points—the second most of any coach in NHL history through their first 25 games.[4] On April 28, Penguins General Manager Ray Shero announced that Bylsma had been named permanent head coach of the team.[5] On June 12, 2009 Bylsma led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship, becoming the 14th coach and the second mid-season replacement to win the Stanley Cup in their first season. While the win made him just the fifth ever American-born coach to win the cup, he also became the third American in the last five seasons to do so. Bylsma was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the league's most outstanding coach for the 2010–2011 season due to the Penguins still being a contender for the Stanley Cup without his two star players Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

On April 22, 2013, Bylsma became the fastest NHL coach ever[6] to reach 200 wins with a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. On June 30 of the same year, Bylsma was appointed head coach of the United States Olympic Hockey Team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. On January 7, 2014, a month before coaching at the Winter Olympics, Bylsma became the winningest coach in Penguins history (233 wins) with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks. On April 4, 2014, Dan Bylsma became the fastest NHL coach to reach 250 wins, leading his team to a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. He accomplished the feat in 395 games.[7] On June 6, 2014 he was fired by the Pittsburgh Penguins, shortly after Jim Rutherford was announced as the team's new general manager.[8]

He remained on the Penguins' payroll, with no job in the organization, through the 2014–15 season. Following that season, the Penguins granted him permission to seek employment elsewhere. On May 28, 2015, Bylsma was named head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, signing a five-year contract.[9] Bylsma was the Sabres second choice for coach after Mike Babcock, who they heavily pursued before Babcock signed with the divisional rival Toronto Maple Leafs.[10][11]

On April 20, 2017, Bylsma was released by the Buffalo Sabres.[12] The transaction came after rumors leaked that Bylsma was at odds with many of the Sabres players, including star Jack Eichel, who allegedly stated he would not sign a contract extension with the team had Bylsma remained head coach.[13][14][15]